By Brian Argabright
Thirty-four riders climbed down into the chutes at the Val Verde County Fairgrounds with visions of setting the tone for the weekend in their eyes.
Instead, the bulls seemed to have won round one of the 43rd Annual George Paul Memorial Bull Riding as none of those cowboys was able to successfully ride two bulls on the night and left a 90-point ride by J.B. Mauney as the high mark to beat on night two Saturday.
Mauney’s mark came on the final bull of the first flight of riders on the evening. The Cotulla cowboy, who has earned more than $7 million in his career, rode 4L/Diamond S Rodeo’s “Space Unicorn” for 90 points in the long go round, but as the final rider in the short go, Mauney was bucked off just a few seconds into his ride atop “Just Another Gangster.”
Mauney, who placed second at the George Paul 14 years ago, said he was happy to be back at the George Paul, one of the places where he got his start, but was at a loss to explain on his last bull of the night.
“Don’t know what happened there,” Mauney said to the crowd.
After the 2020 George Paul was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hopes were high for a strong return in 2021. The stands seemed half empty as the event began, but by the final 10 riders of the night those empty spaces filled up and gave a throaty response to the return of the annual Del Rio tradition.
The format for the evening saw four flights of 10 riders scheduled to ride in the long go round with the top 10 scores advancing to the short go round. The rider who covered both his bulls would be in prime position as Saturday night would bring a new set of 40 riders.
Bulls will start being bucked out of the chutes Saturday night beginning at 8 p.m.
However, six scheduled riders did not compete, and of the remaining 34 riders, only eight notched successful rides to advance to the final round. With one of those riders unable to ride due to injury, three wild cards were selected to join the other qualifiers.
J.C. Mortensen was one of those wild cards, and he wound up being only the rider in the short go to reach the eight-second buzzer as he scored 87 points on “House of Pain.” He failed to reach the buzzer in the long go, getting bucked off by Stockyards ProRodeo’s “Deplorabull.”
Mortensen’s ride tied for the second highest marked ride of the night along with Braidy William Randolph, who achieved his score on Stockyards’ “Gee Wizz.” It was the first time that bull had been ridden in its career.
Other successful rides from Friday night were posted by Tanner Horner (77.5 points on “Foolish Dreams”), Jake Gowdy (78 points on “Wounded Knee”), Laramie Mosley (79 points on “Night Prowler”), Parker Breding (80 points on “Helter Skelter”), Stetson Wright (83 points on “Highway Junkie”), and Quentin Vaught (85.5 points on “Ribbon on Darkness”).
